Support Statement for Visual Basic 6.0 on Windows 8 (UPDATED)
The latest for VB6 Support on Windows 8.x:
Microsoft is committed to support existing Visual Basic 6.0 applications running on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 including R2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012, and Windows 8.x. As detailed here, the core Visual Basic 6.0 runtime will be supported for the full lifetime of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows 8 for serious regressions and critical security issues.
Visual Basic 6.0 is made up of these key deliverables:
- Visual Basic 6.0 IDE [Integrated Development Environment] is no longer supported as of April 8, 2008.
- Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime -- the base libraries and execution engine used to run VB6 applications.
- Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime Extended Files – select ActiveX control OCX files, libraries, and tools shipping with the IDE media and as an online release.
Support for VB6 runtime and runtime extended running on Windows XP ends at the time Windows XP support ended on April 8, 2014.
Supported Windows Operating System Versions
This section provides additional information regarding the operating systems that offer some level of support for VB6.
| Windows Operating System | Has support? | ||
| VB6 Supported Runtime - Files Shipping in Windows | VB6 Supported Runtime – Extended Files to Distribute with Your Application | VB6 IDE | |
| Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, all 32bit editions | Yes * | Yes * | No, but Custom Support Agreements may be available. |
| Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, all 64bit editions (WOW only) | Yes*32bit apps running in WOW only | Yes*32bit apps running in WOW only | No |
| Windows 7, all 32bit editions | Yes * | Yes * | No, but Custom Support Agreements may be available. |
| Windows 7, all 64bit editions (WOW only) | Yes*32bit apps running in WOW only | Yes*32bit apps running in WOW only | No |
| Windows Vista, all 32bit editions | Yes* | Yes* | No, but Custom Support Agreements may be available. |
| Windows Vista, all x64 editions (WOW only) |
Yes* 32bit apps running in WOW only |
Yes* 32bit apps running in WOW only |
No |
| Windows Server 2008, all 32bit editions including R2 | Yes* | Yes* | No, but Custom Support Agreements may be available. |
| Windows Server 2008, all x64 editions including R2 (WOW only) |
Yes* 32bit apps running in WOW only |
Yes* 32bit apps running in WOW only |
No |
| Windows XP, all 32bit editions | Yes* | Yes* | No, but Custom Support Agreements may be available. |
| Windows XP, all x64 editions (WOW only) |
Yes* 32bit apps running in WOW only |
Yes* 32bit apps running in WOW only |
No |
| Windows 2003 server, all 32bit editions including R2 | Yes* | Yes* | No, but Custom Support Agreements may be available. |
| Windows 2003 server. all x64 editions including R2 |
Yes* 32bit apps running in WOW only |
Yes* 32bit apps running in WOW only |
No |
| Windows 2000 Professional, all editions | Yes* | Yes* | No, but Custom Support Agreements may be available. |
| Windows 2000 Server, all editions | Yes* | Yes* | No, but Custom Support Agreements may be available. |
* VB6 runtime support is limited by the OS support lifecycle. E.g. if the target OS is in Extended support, VB6 cannot have a higher level of support than Extended support.
Comments
Anonymous
November 11, 2012
Very good Thank you form MS for Support vb6 on win8 , These more right decision becuase more application Now i many field is made by vb6 and run on win 7 and we hope to run on win 8 In short vb6 is product for MS why not run on new windows which consider product for MS TooAnonymous
November 11, 2012
I Inform you That My life and my family eat from my job "Programer use VB6" If No Support for VB6 I will Loss all things I am try to learn new .net but still need experiance same Vb6Anonymous
November 27, 2012
Its good to hear that.. One more question ? whether Windows Server 2012 supports VB6 runtime?Anonymous
March 16, 2013
Please give us an updated VB6...I will pay any reasonable amount for an updated VB6.Anonymous
April 15, 2013
Waleed, Don't Worry Allah Razik... at the same time you should have more tolls in you belt to face the challenges. VB6 shall die sooner or later / or your clients shall discard vb6 apps.Anonymous
April 29, 2013
VB6 app with TreeView from common controls does not work properly on Windows 8 with touch screen -- even if the touch aspect is not used. On a touch screen equipped computer with Windows 8 the Tree View appears disabled. Does anyone have info on how to solve this?Anonymous
April 04, 2014
Visual Basic 6 needs to be updated to include the same features added to VBA7. Vote for an updated VB6: visualstudio.uservoice.com/.../3440221-bring-back-classic-visual-basic-an-improved-versiAnonymous
July 24, 2014
Will Windows 9 support the VB6 (Visual Basic) programming language? Will the VB6 runtime be included in Windows 9. VB6 programming is still widely used in business, if the VB6 runtime isn't included in Windows 9 users simply won't upgrade from XP or Windows 7.Anonymous
September 16, 2014
Even if MS will no support VB6, just make it work on any future MS OS. That's all we need. Windows 9 up.Anonymous
October 12, 2014
The VB6 runtime and the VB6 IDE run on the Windows 10 technical preview. We have to wait for the final release of Windows 10, but VB6 programming is looking good !Anonymous
October 22, 2014
Does anyone want to update this with information regarding VB6 runtime support on Windows 10 ?Anonymous
November 09, 2014
The comment has been removedAnonymous
November 09, 2014
If you prefer to install the VB6 programming language manually here are some guidelines: Here is a guide to installing the VB6 IDE on Windows 7 www.fortypoundhead.com/showcontent.asp This guide has had over 394,000 views.Anonymous
November 09, 2014
And here is the guide for Windows 8 www.fortypoundhead.com/showcontent.asp This guide to installing the VB6 programming language on Windows 8 has had almost 50,000 views.Anonymous
November 18, 2014
The comment has been removedAnonymous
November 28, 2014
VB6 programming continues on Windows 10, just like it did on Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. The VB6 IDE installs and runs on Windows 10 technical preview. VB6 programming and VBA programming continue to be supported. Microsoft state VB6 will be supported until 'at least' 2024. There is no reason to migrate existing VB applications.Anonymous
December 15, 2014
Can we install VB6.0 runtime in Windows server 2012 R2Anonymous
January 24, 2015
Thank you very much Microsoft for carrying vb6 communities along the path of new innovation in Windows. If i were opportund to see Bill Gate today, guys, i will not ask for money, i will thank him for supporting vb6 in Window 10 and beyond. Hey, i will not forget to ask him to please launch all vb6 programmers into the mobile world and see if the mobile clouds and servers will not fill up of vb6 mobile apps the following day.Anonymous
January 26, 2015
> Thank you very much Microsoft for carrying vb6 communities along the path of new innovation in Windows. If i were opportund to see Bill Gate today, guys, i will not ask for money, i will thank him for supporting vb6 in Window 10 and beyond. Hey, i will not forget to ask him to please launch all vb6 programmers into the mobile world and see if the mobile clouds and servers will not fill up of vb6 mobile apps the following day. Hello, do you have a source for that?Anonymous
March 25, 2015
Please make all windows versions compatible with VB6, including windows 10. Thank you.Anonymous
March 29, 2015
VB6 IDE does run on Win Vista 64 bit and Win 7 64 bit. But you'll have to turn off the fancy visual effects to make it behave right.Anonymous
May 01, 2015
Microsoft's best choice to retain those loyal VB6 developers in MS platform, is to bring about a change in .NET by bringing down the learning curve for those developers. May be those developers are old and may retire soon, but they brought Microsoft the laurels that the company enjoys now. Microsoft shouldn't forget that. Nevertheless, there are quite a few new development platforms that these can switch over too and may not stick to Microsoft which will eventually bring down the user base for Microsoft. Beware Microsoft...Anonymous
May 24, 2015
Please support VB6 on Windows 10, too!Anonymous
June 04, 2015
If Windows 10 is to be the last version of Windows, what is the support policy going to look like ? At the moment Windows support is 5 years of mainstream support followed by 5 years of extended support. And support for VB6 programming is tied to Windows support. So will Windows and VB6 support end in 2020/2025 ?Anonymous
June 30, 2015
Microsoft have just announced that in Windows 10 "everyone’s favorite VB6 Runtime will continue to work". VB6 programming continuesAnonymous
July 03, 2015
I have tried it to install on Windows 2012 and Server 2012 64 bit and still works...Anonymous
July 14, 2015
The comment has been removedAnonymous
July 18, 2015
The comment has been removedAnonymous
September 21, 2015
Microsoft have updated the support policy to include Windows 10. "The Visual Basic team is committed to “It Just Works” compatibility for Visual Basic 6.0 applications on the following supported Windows operating systems: Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 including R2, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 including R2, and Windows 10." msdn.microsoft.com/.../ms788708.aspx